Six days after the start of nationwide protests in Iran, security forces of the Iranian regime have arrested dozens of protesters in various cities. So far, no precise figure for the number of detainees has been released.
Meanwhile, Mansour Saleki, the political, social, and security deputy of the governor of Malard, a city in Tehran province, announced on Thursday, January 1, the arrest of 30 people, describing them as disruptors of public order.
Kazem Nazari, the public and revolutionary prosecutor of Kuhdasht in Lorestan province, also said that at least 20 protesters have been arrested in this city.
Protests in Iran Entered Their Sixth Day, and Iran’s Regime Has So Far Killed Several People
Following public protests in the city of Farsan in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province, at least 20 protesters were also arrested, most of whom were under 18 years old.
Yousef Ahmadi-Pour, deputy commander of the Law Enforcement Forces in Lorestan province, also reported the arrest of one person in the city of Khorramabad.
The HRANA human rights website also reported on Thursday that six women who had been arrested during widespread citizen protests in Tehran were transferred on the evening of Wednesday, December 31, to the women’s ward of Evin Prison after one day of detention in security facilities.
The state-run Tasnim News Agency, affiliated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, also quoted “an informed source” in the Ministry of Intelligence as saying that seven citizens had been arrested in Kermanshah, adding: “These individuals were elements affiliated with the opposition and intended to turn the protests violent.”
The security and judicial apparatuses of the Iranian regime routinely attribute detained protesters to opposition groups and accuse them of violent acts. Nevertheless, in protests in past years, numerous reports have been published about the deliberate carrying out of such violent acts by security forces themselves.
Meanwhile, the head of the judiciary of Fasa city announced, following clashes between law enforcement and security forces and protesters in front of the city’s governor’s office, that four protesting citizens were arrested during the confrontation. Some channels close to security institutions have claimed that one of the arrested protesters was a 27-year-old woman.
On the other hand, a video circulated on social media in which the person filming reported the arrest of a citizen by plainclothes security forces in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar and called on other citizens to intervene to prevent the arrest.
Meanwhile, according to HRANA, following the publication of a call for a protest gathering in the city of Behbahan, four people were arrested by security forces on Wednesday, December 31, 2025.
According to student channels, security agents also arrested several female students on Wednesday night in front of Beheshti University in Tehran.
At the same time, the Khajeh Nasir newsletter channel wrote on Thursday that alongside the nationwide protests in Iran and protests at universities, “a new wave of anonymous and private-number calls from intelligence and security institutions” has begun.
Quoting numerous student reports, the newsletter added that these calls are mainly directed at individuals who previously had a history of summons, security cases, or contact by security institutions.
Contact with some other students has also been reported who, “for specific but publicly unstateable reasons,” have been placed on the pressure lists of these institutions.
Referring to the fact that “the intelligence institutions of Iran’s corrupt system” have long targeted families instead of directly contacting students and pursue summons and threats through psychological pressure, the Khajeh Nasir newsletter added: “Calls are made directly to the student’s mother; a deliberate attempt to wound emotions, instill fear in the family, and break the student’s resistance through emotional means.”
Regarding the arrest of protesting students and their subsequent rapid release, the newsletter wrote: “The aim is not judicial response but merely to create fear, intimidation, and to push back the student movement. These calls are understandable precisely within this framework.”
During the 2022 protests, Iran’s regime arrested close to 30,000 people and killed more than 750 people in Iran’s streets.
